Masao Takemoto

Masao Takemoto
— Gymnast —
Country represented	Japan
Born	September 29, 1919 Hamada, Shimane
Died	February 2, 2007 (aged 87) Prefecture, Shimane
Discipline	Men's artistic gymnastics
Medal record Summer Olympics 1960 Rome Team 1952 Helsinki Vault 1956 Melbourne Team 1960 Rome Horizontal bar 1956 Melbourne Horizontal bar 1956 Melbourne Parallel bars 1956 Melbourne Rings World Gymnastics Championships 1954 Rome Floor 1958 Moscow Floor 1954 Rome Team 1958 Moscow Team 1958 Moscow Vault 1954 Rome Parallel bars 1958 Moscow Horizontal bar

Masao Takemoto (竹本正男 Takemoto Masao, born on September 29, 1919 in Hamada, Shimane - February 2, 2007) was a Japanese artistic gymnast who won two world titles and seven Olympic medals.

His first of seven Olympic medals he achieved in the 1952 Summer Olympics in Helsinki, where he won the silver medal at the vault with a score of 19.150, which was 0.050 short of gold medalist Viktor Chukarin.^[1] Two years later in Rome at the 1954 World Artistic Gymnastics Championships he became World Champion at the floor exercise, which he shared with Soviet gymnast Valentin Muratov as both scored 19.250 points. During this tournament he also won a silver medal with the Japanese team and a bronze at the parallel bars.^[2]

At the 1956 Summer Olympics in Melbourne Takemoto became a three-time bronze medalist as he finished in third position at the horizontal bar, parallel bars and rings. In the team event he was part of the Japanese team that took the silver medal.^[3] His main skills were on the floor exercise and he proved it once again at the 1958 World Artistic Gymnastics Championships, where he successfully defended his title, this time without sharing it with another gymnast. He also won two silver medals at the vault and team event as well as a bronze medal at the horizontal bar.^[2]

Two years later at the 1960 Summer Olympics in Rome he achieved his final international results and became Olympic Champion alongside his team mates Nobuyuki Aihara, Yukio Endo, Takashi Mitsukuri, Takashi Ono and Shuji Tsurumi. As an individual he added a silver medal to his conto to bring his total to seven Olympic medals, by finishing in second position behind Takashi Ono at the horizontal bar.^[4] In 1997 he was inducted into the International Gymnastics Hall of Fame.^[2] Takemoto died from cholangiocarcinoma on 2 February 2007 at the age of 87 in Kanagawa.^[5]

References

1. 1952 Summer Olympics, databaseolympics.com
2. Honored Inductees: Masao Takemoto, ighof.com
3. 1956 Summer Olympics, databaseolympics.com
4. 1960 Summer Olympics, databaseolympics.com
5. Japanese turnheld overleden, telesport.nl